


where we would be

by lamperouge



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Loves, Fluff, M/M, Pining, aka kenma is an idiot and doesn't even know that he's in love with shoyo, kenhina - Freeform, unedited because we die like robins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26699566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lamperouge/pseuds/lamperouge
Summary: there’s something about hinata shoyo that pulls him in, he just doesn’t know what it is.or: the one where kenma doesn’t even realize that he’s falling in love with every encounter.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma
Comments: 7
Kudos: 125





	where we would be

**Author's Note:**

> i made this on a whim because kenhina is so cute, and i've been thinking too much about that moment when kuroo told kenma that he's looking at hinata like how he does with his video games. obviously hinata is not a video game and it's so much more.

**one.** kenma sees him for the first time at a new place — one that is completely stranger to him and to the rest of his teammates as well. despite the disdain present with the way the label ‘city boy’ is being thrown around, kenma thinks that it does fit them quite well. after all, they’re in a strange prefecture with barely anyone they know. 

shoyo approaches with a reckless carefulness armed with bright, riveting curiosity. if it were anyone else who met shoyo during that encounter, kenma is sure that they would easily forget him if it were them. 

but shoyo — shoyo is different. 

he walks away with kuroo, leaving behind an even more curious hinata. and he doesn’t know why but it feels quite good to leave someone like that curious in his wake. 

it’s no surprise to be playing against him a few hours later. 

but when the match is over and kenma is finally riding the bus back to tokyo, he finds himself going back with shoyo’s number in his phone and quite the steady thump in his chest. a thump that he’d never really encountered before, not even when he successfully tosses to his teammates and they score with  _ his  _ toss. 

this one is different. 

there’s something about hinata shoyo that’s so intriguing and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. could it be his optimism? his almost-blinding determination? or just the way that he seems to be so  _ in love  _ with volleyball that it makes kenma wish he had the same tenacity as well. 

_ why does it matter?  _ he asks himself. 

however, the question should really be  _ why shouldn’t it matter?  _

_ - _

**two.** they’ve been texting often. kenma wouldn’t even realize it if kuroo didn’t say anything. it’s not like kenma minds though. texting shoyo feels like a break from all the tiring work they’ve done recently, and he enjoys the updates shoyo gives him about the matches they’ve been on. 

recently, shoyo informed him that karasuno lost to seijoh during the inter-high preliminaries and it’s the first time kenma heard a thing like painful frustration. even if the frustration is shoyo’s (and the rest of the karasuno volleyball clubs’), it felt like it was  _ his  _ too. he felt the pain of wanting something so badly and never getting it — and he feels a bit bad that the only time he ever felt that way is because of shoyo when his teammates probably get the feeling over and over again whenever they lose in games. 

it sparks something within kenma that he doesn’t even know he had — a form of curiosity and need to just  _ play  _ with the karasuno team once again. 

**[ text to hinata shoyo:** i look forward to seeing you this summer camp, then.  **]**

**[ text from hinata shoyo:** me either!  **]**

and it all happens in just one quick moment with that text; kozume kenma is  _ excited _ to go to that summer camp and see hinata shoyo and play with karasuno for another time. 

why? he doesn’t even know, and right now, he doesn’t exactly care. 

-

**three.** shoyo hangs out with him far too often — so often that he notices little things even more than he usually does. shoyo has this habit of watching people so very carefully, yet so obviously — and then gush about them immediately. its paired with his never ending greed to improve himself both as a teammate and an individual. kenma also notices the way shoyo seems to take every single hurdle as an opportunity to better himself, but still finds the time to cry and mull about it when he thinks he’s by his lonesome. 

it feels weird to be this invested in a person, kenma thinks, but at the same time he’s a naturally observant person. surely it’s just his observance coming into play, right? 

when shoyo joins him again for dinner, every word the small middle blocker says automatically registers into his ears. kenma unknowingly reacts to shoyo’s endless rambles too, no matter how meaningless they seem to be. 

(kenma reacts to it in the same stoic enthusiasm he always has. if anyone who knew kenma for a long time ever saw this, they’d  _ know  _ something is off — different about kenma. but thankfully, kuroo is eating his dinner with bokuto, akaashi, and tsukishima. there would be no one to point it out.) 

(except kuroo does notice.) 

before the summer camp ends, shoyo gives kenma a big hug just right before they exit the premises of shinzen high. kenma’s chest feels hollow, like something departed — but not in a bad way, in fact, it does feel quite nice. 

for a while, it feels like he’s started to have some of shoyo’s riveting curiosity. but why? kenma’s sure that he already knew enough about shoyo anyway. but why does he want to know  _ more _ ? 

-

**four.** the time away from shoyo while they’re busy gearing up for the spring high preliminaries feels weird. like satisfaction is distant from him — which is pretty much weird in itself because he  _ does  _ get the amount of satisfaction by himself by playing his video games. he’s a simple guy, give him a good working computer with high specs and his games, or a good console, and he’s happy enough. 

but lately, he feels like something is  _ missing.  _

the only times it doesn’t feel like it would be the very occasional time where shoyo would call him to tell him how practice is going, and how lately he’s been thinking that he should improve more on his receives instead of depending too much on his spikes. 

kenma listens to every single detail with unmatched attention and curiosity. like he’s shoyo hanging on to the word of every one of his seniors. 

it’s intriguing that he hangs on to every single word shoyo ever tells him, but he reduces it to nothing more than just competition and the difference in shoyo’s personality from the rest (and from his). there shouldn’t be that much to it. 

-

**five.** they come back to tokyo for the training camp and there’s something  _ different  _ about shoyo that leaves kenma speechless. it’s like shoyo is more assured — confident in himself and his abilities, unlike the shoyo before who always had bouts of hesitation. this shoyo is completely different in the sense that he’s starting to grow more into a great volleyball player. the confidence he had before isn’t so groundless anymore. 

kenma tosses for him again, in fact, he tosses for shoyo for twenty minutes before deciding that he wants dinner. if shoyo asks him to do it again, he might consider, but thankfully shoyo is thinking of the same idea. 

they both make their way to the cafeteria and as usual, shoyo takes his seat next to kageyama with kenma in tow. what surprises kenma the most though, is how kuroo seemed to have taken notice as he immediately excused himself from the table with bokuto and the rest in order to sit in front of kenma with an annoying grin on his face. 

“so i see you’re a bit late to dinner tonight, kenma.” kuroo grins. 

“oh, sorry about that. it might have been my fault. i asked kenma to toss for me.” shoyo responds while shoveling food into his mouth continuously. 

kuroo’s face falls into a somewhat perplexed yet shocked expression, and it confuses kenma because  _ why  _ must kuroo react to something so trivial? 

“that’s more than the five times he tossed for you during the previous camp.” kuroo states. 

“i know right?” the laugh is triumphant and shoyo is beaming. 

kenma doesn’t know why, but it made him smile too — even just for a bit. 

(but kuroo knows why.) 

-

**six.** for someone so smart and quick-witted, it sure does take kenma a lot of time to realize things that should have been painfully obvious. it’s been a year since he encountered hinata shoyo for the first time, and surely the curiosity and the feeling of being dragged towards shoyo should have gone by now. but it didn’t. if anything, the feeling is only stronger. 

he’d seen how far shoyo had come recently, how shoyo started off as an unskilled but instinctive and athletic spiker to someone more refined and sure. it’s something to be proud of, knowing that he’d been there since the start. 

“you seriously cannot be this dense, kenma.” it’s inuoka who speaks, which surprises kenma because inuoka rarely talks to him that way. 

“what are you talking about?” 

“stop staring at shoyo like he’s one of your video games. you’ve been doing that for the past year, it’s actually very painful to watch.” 

kenma’s cheeks flush red. 

“don’t look at me like that. you know kuroo has a big mouth.” and inuoka walks away. 

could he be implying that kenma likes shoyo? well… shoyo  _ is  _ likeable and he’s friendly, and he’s a good volleyball player, and he’s an amazing person to talk to. there’s no dead air with shoyo that even the silences feel like conversations. shoyo’s both motivating and agitating in ways that would make people want to improve themselves — yes, even kenma. 

okay fine, maybe he’s a little bit in love with hinata shoyo. 

-

**bonus.** from the distance, hinata shoyo stares at kozume kenma with the same bright eyed determination in his eyes. but instead of thinking about volleyball plays or tactics he’s thinking about something else entirely. 

with the same air of refined assurance that he gained from the previous year of playing for karasuno high, he approaches kenma with a grin on his face while holding two rice balls in his hands. one for him, one for kenma. 

“so kenma, you know i like you right?” he sits down on the stairs leading to the gymnasium’s entrance. 

“ _ what?” _ kenma asks, shaking with confusion. 

“i said what i said.” shoyo offers kenma the other rice ball and even though his hand is sticky from holding the rice ball all the way to the gym, kenma holds it. 


End file.
